A New Day
by Bailadora
Summary: Sequel to Another Day. Does Snape get the woman of his dreams? Does Hermione get Snape? Does Harry get Hermione? Have I confused you yet?


A/N: All right, so here's the sequel I promised. Thanks to everyone who reviewed Another Day. I personally didn't think it needed anymore, but if you're not into the depressing ending kind of thing, here's the rest.

Snape watched Her leave, his lips still tingling from the kiss they had shared. What had he done wrong? Why had She left?

He kicked the wall, sending a shot of pain up his leg. Tears began to congregate in the corners of his eyes, but they had nothing to do with the throb in his foot. _I was an idiot to ever think She would be with me. _He raised his hands to his face and wiped a tear from his cheek. He tried to scowl, mad that he had let his emotions get the better of him, but he couldn't make his face scrunch back to its usual position.

Grudgingly, he left his office and returned to his windowless dungeon of a room. He sunk back onto his bed still fully clothed and lay awake, thoughts of what he done wrong swirling through his head.

XxX

Hermione sat in a cubical on the third floor with her head in her hands. She hadn't meant to run out on Snape, she had just panicked. Again. Blowing her nose into a square of toilet paper, she tried to understand just what exactly had gone wrong. She couldn't figure it out. Yes, she had tried very hard to make the evening special, what with the rose and the dress. And she had even leaked out on helping Ron and Harry with their homework, not something that happened very often.

_Harry_. He brought on a fresh wave of tears. She didn't really want to go to Hogsmeade with him as a couple and she couldn't figure out what she had done to make him like her in a more-than-friends kind of way.

She pushed Harry from her thoughts and returned to Snape. The kiss they had shared had been so perfect, so sweet and romantic, entirely different from what Hermione would have thought him capable of. He had been so tender and affectionate and Hermione could tell that he had been waiting to kiss her just as long as she wanted to kiss him.

She sat up straight. Maybe that was it. It was not just a kiss, but something more. A promise or something. Hermione groaned. A promise she had broken by running out.

XxX

Snape lay on his bed, wishing for sleep to come. His freshly laundered clothing were lying on the foot of his bed, weighing down on his feet. He kicked them off, not caring how wrinkled they would be in the morning.

He ran through the facts one more time, trying to find what he had missed the first hundred times he had been through it all. _Hermione had given him a bottle of Her memories, memories of him. She had outfitted herself in a beautiful sundress and brought him a perfect white rose. They had kissed. She ran away._

Snape was beginning to develop a killer headache. He could hear the blood pounding behind his skull. He closed is eyes to rid himself of the pain, but Her face was burnt into his eyelids, permanently etched into his memory. Her outline moved closer and closer until their lips were touching.

Snape groaned and rolled over onto his side. This was going to be one hell of a long night.

XxX

Hermione collected her robes from off the damp floor and pushed out of the lavatory. The corridors were quiet as she wearily made her way back up to Gryffindor Tower. She muttered the password to the Fat Lady, who looked at her tear stained cheeks inquiringly before swinging aside, and she stepped inside the Common Room. She had been in the bathroom for quite some time and was not expecting to find Harry and Ron still awake. They watched her walk straight past them and she began to ascend to the dormitory before Ron finally spoke.

"Have you been–have you been _crying_? Harry, mate, look what you've done."

"Mione? Will you come into Hogsmeade with me?" Ron punched Harry on the arm with such force that Hermione could hear the contact. She ignored them, stepped inside the dormitory, and closed the door behind her.

All the other girls were sleeping peacefully, the moonlight glinting off their shiny hair. Hermione stripped from her robes and dress, which she threw into her trunk in a heap. She slipped under the covers and lay awake, Lavender's delicate snores the only sound in the room.

XxX

Snape was still awake when his alarm clock went off the next morning. He threw the covers back and swung his legs over the side of the bed, sitting there for a few minutes before standing up. The room was dark but Snape had no problem navigating through it. He paced back and forth, three strides towards the bathroom and three back in the other direction.

He knew that he had feelings for Her. Deep ones. Ones that wouldn't go away on their own. No, he had already tried that. He knew that She must have feelings for him as well. Why else would She have gone through all the trouble to see him if She didn't? He knew that something would have to be done, something to bring them back together, if not just to talk things through. And he knew what he was going to do.

XxX

Hermione awoke to Lavender's high-pitched squeal. Somehow she had managed to nod off for a while. Groggily, she blinked the sleep out of her eyes and found a group of girls surrounding her bed. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked around at her classmates. Lavender stood at the foot of Hermione's bed, right in the middle of all the onlookers.

"So?" Lavender asked, leaning in closer over Hermione.

"What?"

"How was it?" Lavender asked with a keen interest in her eyes.

"How was what?"

"Your date, silly!" A few of the girls giggled.

"What date?"

Lavender playfully slapped at Hermione's feet. "All right, don't give us any details. But I _will _find out sooner or later." She walked away and the rest of the girls followed along behind her just like ducklings.

Hermione sighed. She supposed they thought that she and the new Ravenclaw boy had met up the previous night. If only they knew what really happened.

If only _she _knew what had really happened.

XxX

Snape emerged from the shower, rivulets of water rushing over his pale chest. He grabbed a towel and tried himself off, careful to get every last drop. He brushed his teeth while he waited for his hair to dry, making sure to run the brush over every surface of each tooth. When his hair was dry, he combed it out and parted it perfectly down the center. Somehow it was less greasy than usual, almost light and feathery. Though his robes had spent the night on the floor, they were oddly unwrinkled and when he lifted them to his nose, had a fresh, clean scent. With the robes carefully buttoned and smoothed over his shirt and pants, he left the room.

He smiled. It was a new day.

XxX

Hermione walked down to breakfast with a very quiet Harry and Ron. They kept sneaking glances at her and mouthing to each other, but she never looked up in time to see what about.

She had spent extra time in getting ready that morning. Her bushy hair was not up in the usual ponytail, instead in fell over her shoulders in near waves that had taken her a good hour to accomplish. Since it was a Hogsmeade trip that day, she had decided against her robes in favor of jeans and a baby blue sweater. She didn't know why she had spent so much time on her appearance because there was no way Snape would want her now, just that there was a reason for it.

Snape was seated next to Hagrid at the Head Table. He looked nice. His robes looked ironed and his hair was neatly combed. Hermione's heart ached. She was so mad at herself for what she had done to him. She wished she could take the entire evening back and do it all again

Someone was calling her name. She snapped out of her trance to see Harry and Ron looking at her with inquisitive looks on their faces.

"What?" she asked, not bothering to hide the fact that she hadn't been paying attention.

"Are you going with Harry or should I come along as well?" Ron said with obvious irritation.

"Miss Granger?" a smooth but hesitant voice said from in back of the three of them. They turned to find Snape standing behind them.

XxX

The look on their faces was incredible. The expression on Hers, though, it was unforgettable. Surprise mixed with relief and a hint of– was that admiration? She looked beautiful. She had taken a little extra time to outline Her eyes with a black pencil and had swept a brown shadow along Her lids, not that She need the makeup. It did make Her eyes seem to sparkle even brighter in the early morning sunlight.

"Miss Granger?" he asked again. She still not had answered.

"Y-yes, Professor?" She sounded nervous and excited at the same time. It made Snape's heart swell.

"Come with me, would you?"

XxX

Hermione stood up to follow Snape without a word to Harry or Ron. She could feel their surprise as she walked the same path out of the Great Hall that Snape had taken. The two boys weren't the only ones watching, either. A few hundred pairs of eyes followed her as she went out to meet Snape.

She didn't have to look far for him. He was standing in a shadowy corner outside the entrance to the Great Hall. She began to apologize for running out, for leaving him without an explanation. She had hardly gotten anything comprehensible to come out of her mouth when Snape grabbed her wrists and pulled her into him, placing his lips on hers.

XxX

Snape kept the kiss short. He didn't want Her to run off again. After letting his lips linger for just a second, he let Her go and took a step back. A look of hurt crossed Her face.

"I'm sorry," he blurted quickly, afraid he had taken it too far.

"No, _I'm _sorry. I shouldn't have left last night. I just– I got scared I guess. It's all so much to take in." She bit Her lip. God, She was beautiful. "And if you don't mind…" She closed the distance between them and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I've been dying to do that since, well, forever." She smiled shyly.

Snape nodded in understanding. He reached out and grabbed her hand, wrapping his long, white fingers around Her smooth skin. "There's a Hogsmeade trip today. Do you want to go with me?" He wasn't sure if She understood what he had asked because it had come out in a rush, but She grinned widely.

"I'd love to," She answered, tightening Her grip around his hand. "I just have to tell Harry something."

He dropped Her wrist, but She grabbed his back again. "I want you to come with me."

XxX

Hermione couldn't help but grin as she walked over to the Gryffindor table, holding Snape's hand. Every student in the Great Hall was gaping at them, but she didn't care. She stepped up behind her two best friends, whose faces held the most astonished and disbelieving expressions in the whole Hall.

"Actually, Harry I don't think I'm going to make it into Hogsmeade with you today. See you around." She didn't wait for his answer before dragging Snape back along the length of the table and out of the door into the grounds.

XxX

Snape couldn't believe his luck. It was a beautiful day. The sun glinted off the lake, sending sparkles off in all directions. The giant squid jumped up and caught a bird in its mouth before splashing back down to the dark water. Birds in the Forbidden Forest were singing sweet melodies and love songs to each other. A gentle breeze caused Her hair to flow out around Her shoulders.

But mostly he couldn't believe that he was walking down the worn path to the magical village with this gorgeous young woman, his fingers entwined with Hers. With Hermione's.

A/N: Fluff, Fluff and more FLUFF!! It's a bit shorter, but I think it's sufficient. Let me know what you think.


End file.
